An Imperfect Ending
by XYourXStalkerX
Summary: Two years have passed since the pharaoh's departure, and the now 18 year old Marik Ishtar seems to have finally gotten his happily ever after. It's just too bad a certain white-haired theif has no intentions of letting him off the hook. Thiefshipping
1. A Wedding with Bromance

**My first Thiefshipping fanfic! I absolutely adore the pairing, so this is what I think should happen after the actual story ends. I've made it as cannon as possible, although Marik's kinda OOC in this prolouge (He's kinda drunk though so I'll blame it on that ) He'll be in character for the first chapter though, promise^^.**  
**Anyway, gonna give some warnings here; the story contains not only thefshipping, but also puzzleshipping and xenoshipping (Rishid/OdionXIshizu) I might add more pairings, but those are the three certain ones.**

**Anyhow, enjoy the story and please review!^^**

"Now I've been told not to hold any more speeches at formal events, due to the little, uh, '_incident'_ at out last gathering-"

Snickers and sighs and a facepalm or two echoed through the ballroom as everyone recalled the '_incident'_ the previous year that the tanned young man was referring to.

"-Again, I apologize for my behaviour that night but would still like to remind you all that one; I was wasted beyond your wildest imagination, and two; I was telling the truth and nothing but the truth. Your sister truly has a _formidable_ ass, Jonou," the rude egyptian grinned and sent said sister a playful wink. The sister, Shizuka, merely giggled, knowing fully well that the man was only doing so for the sole purpouse of pissing her brother off. And since her brother was pretty damn dense, it worked. Every. Single. Time. In fact, Jounochi looked ready to murder Marik on the spot.

Marik Ishtar chuckled to himself as a few outbursts of laughter were heard, and the rest tried their best to hold it in, before continiuing;

"_But_, it's not everyday your siblings get married! To _eachother _no less – oh, stop looking at me like that, sis, it was just a joke! Although it felt a little strange to me at first since I have always seen Rishid as my brother as much as you as my sister, Ishizu, I honestly couldn't be happier for the two of you!" the egyptian, whose eyes up to now had been locked on the newwed couple, now turned to the rest of the room and raised his glass for everyone to see.

"So now, before I spoil the moment with my buzz, how about a toast for the happy couple, hm, people? C'mon drink up, I don't wanna be the only guy here with a hangover tomorrow!" More snickering was heard as everyone raised their glasses and called out as one man;

**"Kampai!"**

Marik was grinning from ear to ear when he sat down again. From the corner of his eye he saw Honda walk off along with Ryou to get the music started, as they'd just finnished dinner. Now the _real_ party was about to begin, right after the first waltz.

And there would be booze.

And loud dance music.

And more booze.

Marik had most likely had a few drinks too many already, but what the heck who cares? He had all weekend to sober up. Besides, this was the wedding of his big sister and his guardian and best friend! He should enjoy himself, damnit! To everyone's great surprise, Marik was actually rather pleased with this turn of events.

After all, the two people in his world who really, truly deserved the best companion possible, the two people he cherrished the most, had found _eachother_. Why shouldn't he be pleased?  
He wasn't going to lie; he _had_ been shocked when they'd told him. But it was, really, all for the best. Besides, now he and Rishid were finally honest to God brothers; it was on freaking _paper_ now, damnit! Brothers in law, yes, but still.

Oh, if only his father could see them now... Haha, he'd be absolutely _furious!_

And this way, he would never have to worry about some bitch taking Rishid away from him, nor some jackass thinking he could just waltz in there and steal _his_ lovely sister right before his very eyes. They would always be together; they would always be family. Marik grinned even wider as he thought this and contently sank down a few inches in his chair.

Yup, life was pretty fucking sweet.

Music played, and Marik watched almost in awe as Rishid got up from his chair and offered his hand to a slightly flustered Ishizu who bashfully accepted it. Normally, Marik would've thought this to be pretty damn cheesy. Hell, he should _be_ thinking it! But he didn't. It was just... perfect. Beautiful.

He smiled softly at the two as they moved out to the dancefloor, eyes only for eachother. Others soon followed suit, and within a minute the floor was full of dancing couples. Well, couples and couples, but still. He caught a glimpse of Jonouchi dancing with Shizuka-chan somewhere, but they soon disappeared into the crowd again. He was also absolutely _certain_ he had seen Mokuba taking Anzu for a swing. It looked absolutely ridiculous, seeing as Mokuba was pretty damn short even for his age, but kinda cute at the same time. Good, the kid needed to learn how to have some fun. Or else he might end up like that stuck-up bastard brother of his who seemed to have Marik's old millenium rod up his ass 24-7. Who also, by the way, hadn't actually bothered to show up today. The nerve of that guy...

Honestly, it had been too long since they'd all come together like this. Screw Kaiba, he couldn't care less about that guy, but the rest...

Well, let's just say a lot of things had happened since Battle City. They'd all gotten pretty close since the Pharaoh's last stand in the memory world. Especially Yugi and Marik, to everyone's (not to mention Marik's) great surprise. Really, the egyptian had never once thought that the host of his former enemy would be such a... facinating person.

_Speak of the devil_, Marik thought as he spotted his pointy-haired friend. The short boy was currently leaning against the wall next to the ballroom's double-doors, a sad, somewhat nolstagic smile on his face as he observed the dancing couples. Marik felt his heart sink. He should've known the wedding would have this effect on the poor boy. He rose from his seat and walked over to his friend, who didn't seem to notice him until he spoke up;

"Is everything alright, Yugi?"

The king of games let out a startled gasp before quikly turning to face the egyptian. At the sight of Marik he mustered a tiny smile.

"Sorry Marik, guess I spaced out a little. Everything's fine, really..."

Marik raised an eyebrow which clearly stated; _No, it's not, you're lying – it's plain as day._ Yugi sighed in defeat.

"Yes, that was a lie, sorry Marik-kun. It's the same as it always is... I just..."

He couldn't seem to find the words as he stared down on his feet with sad, violet eyes.

"Miss him...?" Marik suggested helpfully. Yugi stood perfectly still for a moment then nodded. Marik let out a soft sigh.

He had been right.

After all, it's only natural to miss the person you love. Marik placed his hand carefully on Yugi's shoulder and asked softly:

"Do you want to go outside for a moment?" Another nod.

"Good. Let's go then."

Marik gently led Yugi out through the doors, past the hallway and out in the hotel's courtyard. He had to admit, having the party after the cermony at this hotel _was_ a good idea.

_It's official; my sister is a genious.  
_  
The egyptian smiled faintly as he looked up at the clear nightsky. It was a calm night, with a full silvermoon accompanying the glittering stars above. It was simply _perfect_ for...  
_  
_"Hey, Yugi, mind if I smoke?" Yugi chuckled at the question.

"When have I ever stopped you from smoking your death-sticks, Marik-kun?" Marik grinned.

"Good point, there Yugi-kun."

The egyptian began searching his pockets for the package of cigarettes he knew he had on him. He just couldn't remember which pocket. Gah, this bloody tuxedo he was wearing seriously had too many damn _pockets!_

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed in triumpf as he finally fished the pack out of the inner-pocket of his jacket. Yugi giggled a little at his childish behaviour. As Marik lit his cigarette he heard Yugi say in a sing-song voice:

"Those things will kill ya~" and the tanned young man growled back his usual:

"I don't caaaare~" in faked annoyance. Yugi just smiled at him. Marik smiled back. They had had that 'conversation' so many times now.

"Feeling better now?" the egyptian asked quietly.

Yugi nodded.

"Yeah. It was just... with all the flowers ad hearts and stuff... all that lovey-dovey was a bit too much for me, that's all," he whispered weakly. Marik understood perfectly. Seeing Ishizu with Rishid, it made even _him_ a bit envious of the two. And he hadn't even fallen in love at all before, and certainly didn't have anyone special to him.

Someone he couldn't see. Ever again.

Not like Yugi.

Yugi hadn't told anyone else about his feelings for his yami. Only Marik. Not even the spirit himself knew. After the pharaoh, Atem, had returned to the afterlife, Marik and Yugi had begun calling eachother on a regular basis. Sure, the bills went skyhigh, but it was worth it.

Marik hated to admit it, but... ever since his return to Egypt efter Battle City he had felt... empty. Without purpouse. Hatred and vengance had been pretty much all he ever knew. And to simply start over again, just like that... even with Rishid and Ishizu there supporting him, it had been difficult.  
And he still held a grudge against the Pharaoh, even though he knew it was wrong of him to blame the spirit, he simply couldn't help it. Even after his departure, the grudge remained. The darkness inside of him refused to fade. The anger was still there, just below the surface. Botteling up. Ready to explode any second.

Yugi changed that.

At first, he had thought the phonecalls from the boy were simply annoying. But eventually, he began to look forward to them; began to open up to the other, and slowly but surely... the darkness faded. It wasn't even being repressed, it was being _erased_.

It was... a miracle. The boy had preformed a smaller miracle, just like that. He had done what no one else seemed capable of. The boy had _healed_ him, body and soul. And it was about that time Marik begun to actually want to _know_ things about Yugi.

So he started calling back. Yugi was thrilled, and that alone made Marik happy as well. Eventually, Yugi became more like family. A brother. And it was obvious that Yugi felt the same way, as he once had a slip of tounge and accidentally called Marik 'nii-san'. Marik had laughed, and Yugi had been oh so embarassed.

It was shortly after that he had found out Yugi's greatest secret. That was, his infatuation with the spirit of the millenium puzzle. He had called in the middle of the night, voice cracking and trying to suffocate occasional sobs.

_"Yugi...? Why are you calling at this hour? You know our time is different..."_

__

"I-I'm sorry I just – I needed to talk to somebody...!"

"Yugi are you- are you crying?"

"N-No, I'm not! I was just... so lonely...Grandpa's away and I started thinking about... well..."

"...Well? What were you thinking of, Yugi?"

"... The other me..."

"Oh... Well, that's only natural I guess, you were really close the two of you, weren't you?"

"..."

"Yugi?"

"M-Marik... C-can you keep a -s-secret?"

"Of course! What type of guy do you take me for? Okay, so I've brainwashed a few people here and there but hey, no hard feelings, right?"

"Hehe...No, no hard feelings. Thank you I-I needed... that."

"Anytime. So what is it? This secret of yours?"

_"Well, you see..."_

And then, Yugi had told him everything. How much he truly did miss the spirit, and his reason for missing him so badly.

Because he loved him. Deeply.

And Marik understood. For some reason he just did, despite having no experience what so ever with love himself.  
The moment Yugi and he hung up that night, Marik went off to get tickets to the next flight to Japan. What kind of brother would he be if he didn't? Rishid would have done it for him.

So now he would do it for Yugi.

... Although he had to admit the face of absolute shock on the boy's face when he opened the door the next evening and saw his 'nii-san' standing there had been a _huge_ bonus.

In the end, Marik had stayed in Domino City. At first he used to crash at Yugi's place, but soon convinced Ishizu to fix him his own apartment, which she reluctantly agreed to. Eventually she bacame so sick of worry for her baby brother that she too, along with Rishid, moved all the way back from Egypt to Japan. And Marik... he now had absolutely everything he wanted.

He really couldn't believe how much of a lucky bastard he was sometimes.

That's why it stung so badly when he saw the pain and loss in Yugi's large, violet eyes. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was him.

And definetly not Marik.

_Even now, after two whole years, he's still so very much in love with you, pharaoh. If you only knew...  
_  
He couldn't bring himself to resent the Pharaoh no more. Not after hearing the way Yugi spoke of him. Not after knowing everything the two of them had been through together. It was... simply impossible.

"I know it was for the best, Marik," Yugi's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife.

"And I know that we did the right thing, we set his spirit free. But... it's like there's a piece of me missing. A piece that disappeared with him. And I-I ... I never even had the guts to tell him how I felt!" Marik felt his eyes widen in shock, Yugi hadn't had one of his breakdowns in a long time now. Not since that night on the phone. Tears were running down his cheeks, and his breaths were ragged.

_Damn... I should've seen this comming!_

"I'm such-such a damn _coward_! I could've at least-" He didn't get to finnsih his sentance however, as Marik had pulled him into a tight hug. Yugi merely sobbed meekly, clingning to his friend's jacket like his life depended on it.

"Shh... Yugi, what would Atem say if he saw you like this? Don't cry..." Marik coed, sounding suspiciously much like a mother as he gently rocked the shorter boy back and fourth in his arms. How long they stayed like that, neither would remember afterwards. Marik could hear the _real_ music starting in the ballroom, but it didn't matter anymore. He wasn't in the partying mood. And Yugi came first, after all.

"Sorry..."

Marik smiled warmly at the weeping boy.

"For what? It's not like you've done anything wrong..." He felt Yugi's grip on his jacket loosen, and slowly the boy pulled away from him, drying his tears with the back of his hand. Neither said anything for the longest time, until Yugi finally spoke up:  
"Marik?"

"Yes?" Marik watched the boy bit his lip before asking:

"Marik, do you get the feeling that there's... someone watching us?" The egyptian raised an eyebrow. That had _not_ been the question he had expected.

"What makes you think that?" Yugi took a quick look over his shoulder before giving him his awnser.

"Well... it might just be me being paranoid, but I just have a feeling there's someone sending me... erm..." Marik crossed his arms and moved his weight to his hip. Yugi could draw this out forever, he knew by experience.

"Sending you...?" he pushed. Yugi actually let out a small chuckle. Marik's eyes widened slightly, surprised by the boy's sudden moodswing.

"Well... I felt like someone's glaring a hole in my back. Got any stalkers I should know about, Marik-kun?" Yugi winked playfully. At first, Marik just stood there dumbfounded, his brain not really interprenting the statement in fully.

_Must be the booze kicking in_, Marik observed.

But once it sank in he couldn't contain himself. He bursted out laughing, laughing so hard he almost couldn't stand straight. Yugi was quick to join in, and soon they had to hold on to one another not to fall to the ground.  
After several minutes, a now heavily heaving Marik panted:

"Yugi... we... are pretty fucking drunk... aren't we?" Yugi giggled.

"Nope! Just... a little messed up in the head... I think." Marik grinned. True.

He was just happy for Yugi right now. Sure, laughing like an idiot was a lot easier when you're a little tipsy but still, there was much more to it than that.

"You know, Yugi... You're absolutely right! We're not _nearly_ wasted enough for a friday night weddingparty! Let's go back inside and play a drinking game I just came up with! It's called 'Take a sip everytime Anzu mentions friendship'! We'll be drunk off our asses in twenty minutes, tops!" Yugi giggled again.

"But Marik, if we do that we'll die from alcohol poisoning before midnight."

"Hm, good point."

Yugi thought for a good few minutes before his face lit up, like he'd had an epiphany.

"How about... we take a sip..." Marik leaned in so he could hear the other better. "Yeees...?" Yugi looked Marik straight in the eye, his face dead serious.

"... everytime someone does _something_ that might imply that they are Marik-kun's stalker."

Silence.

Crickets playing.

Then howling laughter filled the nightair once again, as the two boys staggered back into the ballroom to join their friends in one of _their_ drinking games.

Blissfully ignorant of the pair of dark eyes observing them from afar.


	2. Waking up with a Hangover

**There we have it, chapter two, well actually it's one since the last one was sorta like an intro but oh well XD**

****

Anyway, I actually like this chapter. It was fun to write (oh, like the first one wasn't ) and Marik is in character at the END at least. But hey, a baby brother HAS to tease his sister, right? No Bakura here yet though, but he's comming first thing in the next chapter ;)

**Hope you like it and please review! Adios!**

Another typical saturday morning in Domino; the sun slowly rising above the tall buildings, casting it's warm glow on the yet not fully awake city.

Through the window of an apartment on the west side of town, the day's first sunrays fell upon Marik Ishtar, sprawled out in between his purple bedsheets in all his topless glory, and groaned in discomfort as the golden light hit his face.

It wasn't that Marik didn't like the sun or anything. Hell, he _loved_ the damned sun, normally, but it was just that it's fairly difficult to love it when you're lying in bed with a massive hangover and its bright freaking _light_ is practically _blinding_ you and causing your head to ache... well, more than it already does. The egyptian whined, silently cursing all alcoholic bevarages.

_Oh Ra... what did I drink last night, fucking **gasoline**...?  
_  
Rubbing his tired eyes with one hand and using the other as support, the blonde sat up in the large bed, slowly taking in his surroundings. Doing so, he realised something that made his left eye twitch dangerously.

_... More importantly, how the fuck did I end up back in my apartment?_

A cup of coffee, a shower, and plenty of asprin later, the egyptian began to recall the events of the previous night. Lying down on the livingroom couch wearing his favourite lilac bathrobe with his legs dangeling over the edge, he could vaugely remember doing a tap-dance on one of the dinnertables at the hotel together with Ryou and Yugi's grandpa... The rest was all in a haze. He promptly smacked himself at the memory; It didn't exactly help with the headache caused from the hangover, but really, in moments like these what else can you do but facepalm?

_Never again, do you hear me, Marik? __**Never again**__, do you understand you stupid motherfu-  
_  
Marik thoughts were interrupted by a ringtone that cut his head in half. Or at least, that's how the hungover egyptian experienced it. At the speed of light, the blonde got off the couch and sprinted to the phone in the hallway, desperate not to let go past the first ring. Snatching the phone from its holder, he let out a sigh of relief before awnsering.

"Marik Ishtar speaking."

"Oh, good morning Marik!" a voice he would recognize anywhere spoke on the other end. Marik smiled softly.

"This is Ishizu by the way," his sister added quickly and he let out a small, happy (though a bit pained) laugh.

"I know, I kinda know your voice now after, oh what is it now, soon to be nineteen years?" Ishizu huffed on the other end, pretending as if the comment had offended her.

"Where did you get such a smart mouth, you little rascal? No, don't awnser that Marik, it's a rethorical question." Marik pouted.

"You're no fun, sis."

"Indeed I'm not. And speaking of things that aren't fun, I just called to remind you that you have to go to our house later today and pick up Milo. And don't forget to water the plants once every week while we're gone like you did last time, Marik." The egyptian glared at the phone for a good while before finally awnsering slowly with emphasis:

"_Those plants had it comming_..."

Ishizu sighed on the other end, but it was an _amused_ sigh.

"Just don't forget about Milo, okay? That's what's important here. It sure was nice of you to take care of her until we get back though Marik, I really apriciate it." Marik grinned.

"No problem. I like Milo. We'll have _loads_ of fun together!" Ishizu chuckled.

"Marik, she's a _cat_!" Her brother snorted, sounding very offended.

"You just don't appriciate her like I do." Ishizu laughed out loud at this.

"Fine, fine. Just don't forget about it okay? Oops, gotta go, we're getting on the plane now! Bye bye Marik, don't get into too much trouble while we're gone!" The younger sibling chuckled sinisterly before teasingly purring into the phone:

"Oh no, I'll be a _good_ boy."

"Mm-hm. Good like the time you set the house on fire?" Marik groaned.

"Ra, Ishizu, that was like, ages ago! Let it go already!"

"Marik, it was eight months ago."

"Same thing!"

"Right. Well brother, we'll see eachother in a month then! Bye!" Marik snickered, feeling the _insane_ need to put in just a _tiny_ comment right here-

"Bye sis, don't go too hard on Rishid now! And make sure you use protection, sweetheart! I don't feel like being an uncle just yet!"

"_GOODBYE, Marik!_"

A _'click'-_sound was heard on the other end as Ishizu hung up on him. Marik giggled in a rather childish fashion. Teasing his elder sister never got boring. With a smile on his face, Marik put the phone down and went back into his bedroom to search for something to wear, because seriously, you don't go outside wearing nothing but a freaking bathrobe.

Not even in Japan you don't.

Because apparently there is a slight difference between a kimono and a bathrobe.

Marik found that out the hard way.

The egyptian finally decided on a plain pair of tight black jeans and a long-sleeved lilac silk shirt that matched his eyes, which he only buttoned up halfway due to the warm weather. He had already gotten his hair fixed after his shower, but felt the need to double-check now that the outfit was complete. Looking at himself in the full-body mirror in the bedroom, he decided he looked fine. Not fine enough to go out clubbing exactly, but fine enough to walk out the door.

As he looked into the mirror, Marik's thoughts wandered back to the previous night. Really, how _had_ he ended up back at his place? Somebody must've brought him there; he had been _way_ too smashed to find his way back last night, and the hotel they had held the wedding party at was halfway across the city from his apartment - kinda long way to go by foot.

Especially when you can barely even stand up straight, much less walk down a street.

Finally, Marik shrugged. Weirder things have happened. But still, it was frustrating. Marik was, after all, a control freak. He didn't like not being fully aware of the situation, and yet here he was, unable to recall what the hell he had done last night.  
No control whatsoever.

_Well I could always try asking the neighbour on the way out_, Marik thought with another shrug before walking out back into the livingroom.

_Otherwise, I'll just give Yugi a call. I swear, that kid is _immune_ to alcohol...  
_  
Grabbing his keys from the coffee table, Marik put on his now a bit worn-out black leather jacket and walked out the door, contemplating weather or not he should take his motorcyckle to Ishizu and Rishid's today. With the hangover and all... although it was progressively getting better, Marik noted with glee.

As he closed the door behind him, Marik couldn't help but marvel at how quiet the apartmentbuilding was this morning. To his great vexation, Marik had some pretty noisy neighbours, and although the ones on his floor were relatively calm - the rest were most certainly not. _Especially_ that jerk what's-his-name-again downstairs... Niigata Hiruko, that's it! Fucking neighbours. Always playing death metal so fucking loud he wouldn't be surprised if someone from the apartment-building _next door_ came to complain; fighting with their roomate or sagnificant other... or just drilling holes in the wall for no bloody good reason other than pissing everybody else in the house off. Really, they were just... idiots and assholes, the whole lot of them.

Now, Marik wasn't really much of a people person to begin with, (goes without saying) and these neighbours of his were driving him insane, slowly but surely. If only he had his millenium rod...  
... he would stab them repeatedly in the eyesocket while laughing manically as they begged him for mercy.

Which was why the silence was so refreshing to the egyptian. A small, yet content smile graced his features as he began walking down the staircase to the first floor.

"Oi, egyptian, you got some last night or what?" a voice called out to him. Marik froze. Crap. He wasn't _nearly_ drunk enough to deal with his idiotic neighbours right now... Taking a deep breath, the blonde slowly turned to face the positively _insanely_ irritating conversation he knew by experience would follow after being adressed this way.

... And after seeing the person that _had_ adressed him, Marik felt just as sick as he had waking up this morning.

_Fuck. It's that bloody bastard downstairs Niigata again...  
_  
"I don't see how that's any business of yours," Marik replied coldly. Niigata laughed.

"Oh, come on now it's no secret! We _all_ knew you swang that way!"

Marik felt his eye twitch for the second time this morning.

_Urge... to kill... rising...!  
_  
"And _what_, exactly, gave you _that_ impression?" he hissed through his clentched teeth, unable to restrain his temper anymore. Niigata obviously didn't notice and let out a dramatic sigh.

"You want me to write you a list? Dude, take a look in the mirror you wear friggin _earrings_ for fuck's sake!" Marik was gnashing his teeth at this point, but his neighbour paid it no mind.

"And last night you came stumbeling in here high as a house in the arms of this weird white-haired dude, I mean _seriously_-"

"Wait-what?"

_White-haired dude...? Could that be Ryou he's referring to?  
_  
Niigata looked slightly puzzled at first.

"I said you came in high as a – _OOOOH_" his face lit up in realization, and an look of understanding came over his features.

"I get it you were _that_ wasted, okay I hear you. Alright, I'll throw you a bone, mate – the guy was around your height, really long white hair, a bit messy too, couldn't catch the colour of his eyes though. Around the same age as you too."

Marik sighed in relief. He had been right. Now that he knew it had been Ryou taking him home last night he could rest easy. But first he needed to take care of the neighbour's dumb misunderstanding of the situation.

Becuase Marik _wasn't_ fucking _gay_.

Seriously.

"Oh, I know who that is. Friend of mine, actually. But I'll have you know that, unfortunatly for you, he isn't gay and neither am I. Nothing. Happened. Last night. Got it?"

_I'll kill him one day, I swear...  
_  
Niigata looked a bit taken aback by the egyptians sharp tone but finally nodded.

"Okay, whatever. But, I mean it's totally cool with me ya'know I got nothing against gay guys and shit, ya'know?" If looks could kill the man would've died on the spot.

"Err, o-okay I'll just go on back in now..." he stuttered, slowly backing away from the not-entirely sane egyptian. Marik snorted out a "Yeah, that's what I thought" before he turned on his heel and walked down the last staircase to floor zero, through the doorway and out on the street. Gods, he needed to get a new apartment...

Inhaling the fresh morning air, however, Marik felt his anger fade and a faint smile replaced the frown. Afterall, with the exception of his neighbours, Marik had all he could ever wish for. He had family and good friends supporting him in everything, and he was about to begin his second year of college this fall – something he actually looked forward too. Well, go figure since he was in the top three in his grade, but still! He had his own apartment and a freaking _motorcyckle _for fuck's sake, really the only thing he _didn't_ have was a girlfriend. It bothered him a little, but since he'd never found a girl interesting enough to go through the trouble of asking her out, it wasn't really that big a deal. What was _kind of_ a big deal was that he due to this was still a virgin. It wasn't like he was saving himself or anything... he just really wanted his first time _at least_ to be with someone special. After that it didn' matter, then he'd just sleep with anyone he felt like but until then...

Until then, he'd wait.

Walking down the street Marik listened to the sounds of the awakening city. Storeowners were starting to open up their shops; people were lazily beginning to crawl out of their apartments, partly still asleep. Marik decided he'd take the bus today; he didn't like driving with a hangover since it lowered his concentration. And after the crash he was in last year, well... let's just say he'd gotten a lot more careful in traffic. Not because of the broken arm and ribs, but because Ishizu can be _quite_ scary when she wants to. Marik shivered at the memory of the look in his sister's eyes after confessing he'd had a drink or two before getting up on his bike that night.

_Women are scary... Shit, I really _do_ sound gay, no wonder that stupid neighbour thinks I'm queer!_

Marik let out a sigh as he reached the bus stop and went to check the bus table. Next one would arrive 9:11. Marik pulled out his cellphone to look at the time; the screen showed 9:08. Good. Only three minutes left then.

Brushing a few strands of hair from his face, Marik stuffed the phone back into his pocket – or, he was _about_ to, before it rang. Checking the display, the blonde raised an eyebrow. Secret number.  
_  
Meh. Might as well awnser anyhow.  
_  
"Marik Ishtar."

"..."

"... Hello?"

Someone was breathing on the other end, he could hear it clearly. Now he was getting annoyed.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" Still no reply. Just breathing. Marik gritted his teeth.

"Look punk, if you got something to say to me, say it!" Silence again. Marik was just about to hang up when-

"Nah." Marik's left eye twitched.

"What?"

"Don't feel like it."

_Click.  
_  
Quiet, no breathing. Marik removed the phone from his ear and looked at it in disbelief.

"Okay seriously, what the fuck was that all about?" he shouted at it, irritated, confused and, actually, a bit frightened. For starters, he wasn't the type of guy to give out his number to just anyone, only a few select people had it. Sure, it might've been just a prank call, but something told him that that wasn't it. And there was something else, and that was what was truely so unnerving; He recognized that voice. He couldn't quite place it, but he knew he had heard it before. Damnit, why couldn't he seem to remember?

As the egyptian got on the bus, Marik was thinking so hard it actually _hurt_ (or maybe it was the hangover haunting him again) before a familiar voice called out:

"Marik! Wow, you're already up? And here I thought you'd be lying in bed until _tomorrow_ morning!" Looking up, Marik came face to face with a grinning Anzu. The egyptian raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? Anzu? What are you doing in this part of town?"

This of course, was merely a polite way of saying "what the fuck are you doing here, leave me the hell alone", but _she_ of course didn't know that. Marik just didn't _like_ Anzu, he had no reason to. She was annoying as hell, loud and obnoxious. How the heck Yugi managed to get a crush on her before the pharaoh came along was beyond him...

"Oh, I was just checking up on Mai-san, she was almost as wasted as you when she left. She's sound asleep thanks to a little help from these babies," Anzu smiled and held up a bottle of white pills that Marik _hoped_ were sleeping pills.

"You seem to be doing fine, though. You _gotta_ tell me your secret!" she laughed, and Marik mustered a smile.

"Asprin and coffee. And lots of it." Anzu giggled.

"Come on Marik, sit here with me! Don't be shy! So, what are you doing out this early then?" the girl asked curiously. Marik shrugged.

"Picking Ishizu's cat up and watering the plants... or not. We'll see about that last one..." Marik put on a sour expression and put his finger to his chin, appearing to be in deep thoughts. Anzu laughed.

"I'm on my way to the dance studio myself, so I'll get off in a few stops. But you'll have to sit here for awhile, am I right? Rishid and Ishizu's house is pretty far from here." Marik nodded.

"Mm-hm. That's true, but it sure beats driving hungover."

"Hm, good point there, Marik... Oh, oops next one's mine, better get up! I'll see you later, Marik!" The egyptian watched the young dancer bouncing off the buss, eager to get her practice done, and was actually a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm. A sting of jealousy hit him, and he wished he too could be as passionate about something as she was about her dancing. After the pharaoh left, Anzu had devoted herself completely to the studio, and she'd gotten good. _Very_ good in fact, even Marik had to admit that.

The egyptian crossed his arms and stubbornly looked out the window. He'd admit the girl had talent, but that was as far as he went.

But now, without Anzu to distract him, Marik's thoughts begin to wander back to the strange phonecall from earlier. And that voice... why was it so familiar? Unable to find his awnser, the egyptian tilted his head back and groaned in defeat.

_This is by far one of the weirdest days of my life._

And Marik had no idea how right he was.

_This_ was only the beginning.


	3. Bakura, Ladies and Gentlemen!

**God I don't know HOW much time I spent on EDITING this thing ONLY. For some reason it was very difficult for me to write Oo. So when I was done it turned out bad, so I've spent pretty much one entire wek just editing the damned thing XD  
I'm still not 100% pleased with it but I thought I'd kept you all waiting long enough already  
Bakura: Damn straight.  
How the hell did you get here? Geez... Well, Bakura FINALLY appears in this chapter-  
Bakura: Took you long enough...  
Do you mind? Anyway, thank you all for your wonderful reviews and faving and subscribing, it gives me energy to work!^^ I've been incredibly lazy by not replying but I shall do so first thing once I'm done here!  
Enjoy and please give more wonderful reviews^^**

***

The apartment of Marik Ishtar placed in one of the numerous large apartment buildings on a street in the western part of Domino City (the street in question had no name, since the japanese like to screw around with their tourists by rarely if never naming their streets*) was silent as the grave, save for a rythmic ticking, appearing to come from the young owner's kitchen.

This because Marik had one of those old-school clocks hanging in there. You know, the kind that goes tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock until you either get used to it or break the damned thing into a million pieces. The man residing in Marik's kitchen this morning really wasn't all too sure which one it was gonna be.

Hell... To be perfectly honest he wasn't really all too sure about anything at the moment

This truly _was_ a bizzare situation he'd gotten himself into. Although he had to admit the most bizzare about it was that Marik hadn't even noticed he was there when he had woken up this morning. Right in his very own kitchen. Oblivious brat. The again, this whole thing would've been awfully difficult hadn't Marik _been_ so freaking oblivious.

Tch. No matter. The real question was; what now? He'd gotten in there, now what to do?

Leaning back on his (or rather _Marik's_) chair, he let out a weary sigh. He really hadn't thought this through enough. Damn it all... The egyptian would be comming back home soon... should he leave or should he stay here and wait for him? The man clicked his tongue in mild frustration.

Fuck. Seriously, he hadn't thought this through at _all_. Then again, this wasn't exactly his first time acting before thinking...

Like that phonecall just now for example. What the _hell _did he do that for?

... Well, it was kinda fun freaking the egyptian out, but still.

In annoyance, he threw a breadcrumble unfortunate enough to catch his eye across the room and begun to impatiently drum his fingers against Marik's dinnertable.

... He _wanted_ to stay, damnit. Not exactly for a friendly little visit either, no... No, more like something along the lines of... eternity, perhaps?  
Forever and ever?

_Oh, now _that_ was corny...  
_  
Hm. Eternity with _Marik_ of all people. Heh, really now... He _should_ consider that as more of a _punnishment_ than something to actually look _forward_ too... But of course; he didn't. It was what he wanted, afterall. To be together again...

It would be _fun_, goddamnit!

Besides, even _eternity_ passes by real quickly when you're having a good time...

Though Marik most likely wouldn't agree to it.

_Hehe... Well...  
_  
Bakura smirked in a way that was undeniably plain _evil_ in his seat.

Well... Who the hell said _he_ had a say in it?

"Welcome to my humble batchelor pad! I hope you'll enjoy your stay," Marik declared as he opened the clasp to Milo's cage.

"But please refrain from destroying my furniture while you're here, would you? Especially the couch, that thing was expensive as hell." The champange burmese didn't seem to be paying too much attention to her host's request however, as she was far too busy inspecting her new inviroment. Marik chuckled slightly as the cat suspiciously sniffed at the oriental style floor lamp he'd purchased a few months back.

"Yes, I've refurnished a little since you were here last time. You like it?" The cat responded by gracefully jumping up on Marik's black leather sofa and curling up into a soft little ball of beige fur.

_Well, at least she liked the new couch.  
_  
Marik smiled and removed his shoes and jacket before walking over to his feline companion to gently scratch her behind the ears. Milo purred loudly in appreciation, causing Marik's smile to widen into a grin.

He could clearly remember the day when Ishizu had brought the kitten home with her, that had been back in Egypt over a year ago. It had been a gift from a friend of hers apparently, though Marik couldn't seem to remember the name. Although he had been a tad bit sceptical torwards the tiny furball at first, she had soon with very little effort won him over completely with her huge, bright, sparkling amber eyes and the way she would always chew on Ishizu's favourite shoes... are cat's really suppoused to do that? Meh, whatever.

There was a certain charm to her though, how she could seem so very... _human_, at times. So very susceptible to human emotions. Marik was very grateful for that last part. He could remember how it was back in Egypt, before Yugi.

It had been pure hell. At least as a tomb keeper he'd had someone to blame for his predicament - the pharaoh; not to mention his own father. He could put the blame on them, resent them and loathe them so that life would become a bit more bearable.

Hating them had made everything so much easier. Afterall, hatred blinds you; highly convinient when you wish not to see the truth.

But now he had to see the world as it truly was. Had to see _himself_ as he truly was. And to be perfectly honest, he hadn't liked what he'd seen when taking a good look in the mirror.

Not one bit.

Self-loathing and guilt became part of his everyday life. Ishizu and Rishid were always there for him offering their support, but they didn't understand...! They didn't have innocent blood on their hands, how could they possibly understand what he felt? Their consciences were as clean as new-fallen frickin' _snow _for Ra's sake...

So how could they know, how could they even begin to _imagine_ the things he felt? To have no resolve, no purpose, no truth nor path nor goal, no actual reason for _living_...!

Nothing but questions and fears.

And those godawful nightmares.

Oh _Ra_, those horrible, horrible nightmares! But what was the most horrifying about them was that they weren't even dreams; but his own memories.

How many times hadn't he woken up in the middle of the night covered in cold sweat, shaking in fear because of those memories? Because of events that once took place in his own _life_?

... Now that's actually pretty damn twisted.

Those dreams, memories, often a mixture of the two... they almost killed him. To have to relive it all over and over again, night after night...

An endless circle of madness and pain.

But everytime when he woke up like that, scared and confused at three in the morning, Milo would be right there next to him in the bed, purring softly, soothing him.

And she was the only one. Because Marik was simply too damn proud to ever tell anyone he suffered from nightterrors. It just sounded so... weak. Pathetic. _Childish_.

And Marik was no child. So Milo became the only one he could share those dreams with. The only one he could share anything with really until Yugi came along...

Marik lazily scratched the brumese behind her ears, so lost in his own thoughts he didn't even notice the tall figure behind him leaning against the kitchen doorframe with its arms crossed, observing him with its dark, malevolence eyes, a fiendish grin twisting its features.

That is, until it spoke up.

"How cute. You know, ore-sama** always figured you'd be a cat-person..."

Marik froze instantly. That voice...

_No... It—It can't be!  
_  
He knew that voice. He knew it all too well; he'd heard it echo throughout his dreams for the last two years, but... no, it just wasn't possible!

... But, but that word, _that damned word!  
_  
_"Ore-sama"... Fuck, there's only one man in this world who thinks high enough of himself that he uses fucking _"ore-sama"_!  
_  
The former tombkeeper's heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, panic spreading throughout his body. This _feeling_... one he hadn't felt for such a long time, but remembered all-too well... it was _fear_.

Marik took one wheezing breath, the fear was like a noose around his neck; slowly choking him to death.

"'S the matter? Cat got your tounge, _Marik_?" The devil that went by the name of Bakura in the doorway purred; _completely_ aware of Marik's prediciment and enjoying every lasting second of it.

_Damn that guy...  
_  
Choking his dread, Marik took a deep breath before slowly turning to face the demon from his past; a mere few seconds of his life that felt like eternity. Marik bit his lip in panicked frustration.

Why was it so _hard? _Why was he so damn _scared?  
_  
"I'm not afraid of you, Bakura," Marik growled, more to reassure himself than to intimidate said man as he finally turned around completely, locking eyes with his former partner in crime.

Because it really was the eyes of Bakura he was staring into. Deep, bottomless pits of hell.

"Marik, you usually are an excellent liar, but it's quite obvious you're scared shitless right now..." the owner of the pits teased.

"Though there's no need to be. I don't have any reason to harm you..." Bakura looked rather thoughtful for a moment before finally adding with a feral grin;

"well, not _yet_." Marik swallowed down hard. He was completely defenseless right now; without his rod he was just an ordinary mortal man, while Bakura on the other hand still had the millenium ring at his disposal-...

Marik blinked.

_Wait a minute here...  
_  
A small, malicious grin was tugging at the corner of the egyptian's mouth.  
_  
_"The millenuim ring..."

_Buried deep down in the Egyptian sand...  
_  
"You don't have it anymore..." Bakura snorted at the younger's statement.

"No shit, brat? And I have you and that damned pharaoh to thank for it..." the spirit growled where he stood leaning against the doorframe, his eyes never once leaving Marik.

"If I remember correctly," he then added in a rather venomous tone before he straightened up and began to walk slowly torwards Marik, who instinctively took one step backwards then mentally cursed himself for doing so.

"Stay away from me, Bakura." It was a miracle his voice didn't fail him. That noose of fear had loosend a bit, but was by no means gone. Bakura chuckled again.

"Or you'll what? Glare at me? Pull my hair? _Scream?_ Face it Marik, you've got nothing on me," the devil smirked. Now it was Marik's turn to chuckle. A rather nervous, feeble one, but it would have to do.

"No, I refuse to degrade myself like that I'm afraid; however I might consider breaking your jaw if you ask nicely." Just because he was scared didn't mean he'd just let Bakura do whatever he damned well pleased in _his_ apartment...!

Bakura looked rather taken aback by this; to the degree he wasn't able to conceal his surprise at least. Although after a few seconds of shock, Bakura burst out laughing uncontrollably; earning him one of Marik Ishtar's famous deathglares.

"What's so _damn_ amusing!" he finally hissed, tired of Bakura's mockery.

Bakura's laughter died down to hysterical giggles as he reached out his arm to ruffle Marik's hair in a mimicked fatherly way.

"Oh no, I'm just _proud _of you, Marik! You finally grew a set of balls!"

Now, Marik abhorred violence, normally. He had shunned it like the plauge ever since the destruction of his darker half back in Battle City, and avoided it completely if possible these days.

However, this did by _no means_ stop him from kicking the bastard thief where no man wants to be kicked with all his might for insulting him in his own damn house.

Said thief hissed in agony but did manage to respond with a good ole'-fashioned right-hook to the face before completely succumbing to the pain radiating though his lower regions, sending Marik flying over the couch's backrest. Though he did by some miracle manage to avoid landing on the floor; instead Marik wound up in some sort of strange upside-down sitting position in the sofa.

"That... was low... even for _you_..." Bakura growled, clinging to the couch for support. Marik, feeling rather dizzy from the adrenaline-rush caused by the fall, chuckled. He'd come up with a pretty nice comeback for the insult earlier.

"Now who's the one in need of a goddamned set of balls, _Bakura_?" The thief glared at him for a good few seconds before finally bursting out laughing for a second time.

"Well it looks like you haven't lost that lovely sick sense of humor I _so _adore about you, Marik," he grinned.

"And I see you're as fiesty as ever. So shall I assume you've been doing well during our time apart?" Marik rolled his eyes at Bakura's mocked coutresy.

"Just cut the crap, Bakura. Tell me why you're here. More importantly, tell me _how_ you are here." Bakura looked down at the young man upside down in the couch with feigend innocence.

"What? Can't I visit an old friend of mine simply out of the goodness of my black little heart? How cruel you are, Marik... " the spirit wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye, causing Marik to send him another deathglare.

_He _really_ needs to cut down on his sarcasm...  
_  
Bakura of course, noticed this and the faked hurt was replaced by an amused grin.

"Seriously though, I honestly have no intentions whatsoever," the thief smirked as he jumped up on the couch backrest (_Very much like a cat isn't he?_ Marik randomly noted in his head).

"I was just in the neighbourhood." Marik snorted at this.

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"You honestly gonna stay in that position of yours?"

Marik blushed furiously; he'd been so preoccupied with the thief he'd forgotten his... current position which most definetly made him look positively ridiculous. And so, a bit too eager to get out of it, he accidentally fell off the couch completely and landed on the wooden floor.

Bakura glanced down at the egyptian on the ground, his face completely blank.

"How very ungraceful of you," he commented.

"Fuck you, Bakura!" Marik hissed at the former thief king who with a barely noticable smirk responded:

"Why Marik, I had no idea you were this forward."

_I officially want to kill this guy!  
_  
Marik was too angry at this point to even say anything; all he could do was gnash his teeth in silent rage and glare with burning hatred at his antagonist.

Too bad this only served to amuse him.

"Oh, that's a scary look, right there. As for your question of how I got here... well, to be perfectly honest I've been here since last night. You just don't remember letting me in. Alcohol's a real bitch, ain't it, Marik?" said antagonist smirked, and was absolutely _thrilled_ to see the look of hatred on Marik's face turn into one of sheer panic. He almost felt like doing a small victory-dance on the spot.

"You've – what? How did—I would never do that even if I couldn't freaking see straight, you liar!" But Marik wasn't certain. Not even in the slightest. And for every passing second, his doubts only grew stronger. Afterall, he couldn't remember a thing from last night...

Then it all clicked.

_"... And last night you came stumbeling in here high as a house in the arms of this weird white-haired dude..."  
_  
Marik swallowed down hard. Again. He had just assumed it had been Ryou after his conversation with his neighbour; because let's face it how many guys are there in Domino with long white hair? Not very many, I'll have you know.

Then Marik realized something else; something that really _should've_ been his first concern when Bakura appeared.

Bakura used Ryou as a host since he had no body of his own.

While Marik didn't exactly have as good a relationship with Ryou as he had with Yugi, he definetly _did _however considered him a friend. The two of them had gotten much closer ever since they realised simply by dumb luck they were in fact going to the same university, though they'd never noticed eachother in class. These days, they'd often study together, and lately they'd even begun to occasionally meet up just to get a cup of coffee and have a nice conversation.

In short, Marik _liked_ Ryou and he liked Ryou as as _Ryou_. And if this ancient kleptomaniac had taken over his body again like last time...

Well, Marik couldn't just stand by and watch this happen, now could he? Though dispite his worry, (and to his great shame) Marik was a bit puzzled, curious even. How was Bakura able to use Ryou's body without the millenium ring?

"Oh, I assure you Marik, you _did_ let me in. Though I am quite positive you mistook me for little Ryou. It's quite a common mistake, so I guess I can forgive you for that," the thief grinned at him.

"We resemble eachother quite a lot." Bakura then looked rather thoughtful, before quickly adding;

"Though I believe myself to be a few inches taller than he."

Marik blinked.

_... Say what?_

Noticing the perplexed look on Marik's face, Bakura's grin widened.

"Confused, eh? Well let me explain it to you then; I've had my fun at your expense for today anyway," the spirit chuckled, earning yet another glare from the egyptian. Bakura's only response was a sickenly sweet smile (though since it was Bakura it didn't even look _remotley_ sweet) before he spoke again;

"For starters, just to be perfectly clear Marik, this body right here-" Bakura pused to make a gesture at his anatomy.

"-is mine. And mine alone." Bakura smirked and wiped a strand of white hair from his face.

"For starters, my dear former landlord*** isn't _nearly_ as handsome as I am. Also my hair's a bit shorter than his, and as you would've noticed had you paid any attention, his eyes are brown. Mine are dark purple, like my original body's. Hell if you don't believe me, give him a call. He'll pick up. I promise." Bakura grinned at Marik, who was giving him a very suspicious look.

"Go on, call him." Marik frowned.

_That goddamned tone... it's like he's challenging me... Well I'm not backing out if that's what he thinks!  
_  
"Alright. I will!" Marik dug up his cellphone from his pocket and hit Ryou's number. To say that Marik had butterflies in his stomach at the first ring would be an understatement. Things were just... not making sense! And Marik was a being of logic and reason, things that weren't according to plan confused and to some degree even frightened him.

And _anything_ having to do with his former partner in crime was _definetly_ not according to plan.

Second ring. Marik bit his lip.

_Click.  
_  
"H-hello...? Marik, what're you calling for?"

The egyptian's lips parted in mild astonishment. Wether this was because Ryou and Bakura really _did_ have separate bodies, or because Bakura had actually told him the truth, he wasn't entirely sure. He looked at the spirit – no, he wasn't a spirit anymore now was he? - He looked at _Bakura_, still sitting on the couch's backrest with a smug look on his face.

_Told you_, he mouthed, knowing Marik was fully capable of reading his lips. Marik merely glared back at him.

"Marik? You there?"

_Shit, Ryou-Phone!  
_  
"Um, yeah I'm here, hehe. Sorry, I got a little distracted. I was just calling to see how you were, you made it home safely?" Ryou giggled on the other end of the line.

"I should ask you that. _You're_ the one who thought it was a good idea to walk home alone in the middle of the night when you were too wasted to even _see_ straight! Let alone _walk..._ How on earth _did_ you get home, anyway? You couldn't have possibly found your way back yourself?" Ryou asked in disbelief.

"Errrmm..." Marik drawled, casting a glance at Bakura who had gotten bored with the phone conversation since he could only hear Marik's side of it and was currently busy studying his nails.

_Well... it obviously wasn't Ryou...  
_  
"Well, I bumbed into an old..." Marik was almost about to say 'friend', but the word didn't seem to quite fit. "..._aquaintance_ of mine," he finally seattled with (Bakura gave him a sullen look for his - according to him - poor choice of words).

"Oh, well I'm glad. I was pretty worried for awhile there, but Yugi told me that you'd get by and well... he _does_ have a point, you can take care of yourself, hehe. Though I'm a bit curious about why you declined when we offered you a ride home?" Marik sighed. He wasn't quite himself once he'd had a few drinks.

"Because I become a complete _idiot_ after a few glasses... and twice as stubborn as normal, as you must've become aware of last night..." Marik blushed slightly. Ra, he didn't even want to _think_ about the stupid things he must've done while intoxicated...  
Ryou laughed.

"You're right about the stubborn-part at least. Though I wouldn't really say you were acting like an _idiot_, more like you were just having fun!" the boy chirped happily. Marik groaned.

"It's the _same thing!_"

Ryou just laughed again.

"Don't laught at me you little...!" Though Marik was close to laughter himself. Ryou just had that effect on people.

Bakura looked at him with distaste.

"I don't know you anymore, man..." Marik responded with a one-fingered salute.

"Hehe, well it's good you're okay, Marik. Oh, sorry I gotta go now, I have to go shopping for dinner before the store gets too crowded so I guess I'll see you around?" Marik nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you later. Bye, Ryou."

"Take care, Marik!"

A soft _'click'_ was heard, then silence.

"Now do you believe me?" It was such a stupid question, and the bastard knew it. He was doing it simply to torment him. Marik rolled his eyes.

"No, I think I'll need to have you two stand next to one another before I believe it – _What the hell do you think?_" he hissed at the still smirking thief.

"Heh, why someobody's tense today. Want me to give you a massage, love?" Really, no one can do irony quite like Bakura.

"Touch me and you _die_, thief..." Marik growled. This day was just getting better and better; First a hangover, then an, no, _the_ annoying neighbour comes to bother him _while_ he's hungover, then a freaky phone call from a complete stranger-  
_  
-Wait a minute here...  
_  
Marik blinked once. Twice.

"Jackass, that was you on the phone too, wasn't it?" Bakura shrugged.

"Innocent till proven guilty." Marik facepalmed for the second time that day.

... Goddamn, he needed a cigarette. Marik wasn't exactly addicted to them, honestly, he only smoked when he was feeling stressed or sometimes when depressed, but not on a daily basis, not even weekly. More like monthly. The only exception was when he was drunk; then it happened he had one or two cigarettes, like he had last night.

Marik sighed.

"So, are you planning on telling me how the hell you managed to get back? I thought you were destroyed in the memory world?" he asked, his voice by no means soft, but still not exactly hostile. He was too tired at this point. Bakura let out a small chuckle, for once not mocking nor malicious, but actually... rather pleasant in Marik's ears.

_This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder...  
_  
"Alright, I'll be good. Or as good as I _get_ at least, hehe. Yes, you are absolutely correct, I _was_ indeed destroyed in the memory world. I _did_ die," Bakura grinned and crossed his legs where he sat, sitting still for so long had made him a bit stiff.

"Alas, the gods didn't know what to do with me." Marik raised an eyebrow.

"You're the devil personified, how could they _not _know where to send you?" Bakura laughed at the question.

"Touché Marik, touché. But you see the reason they couldn't is because none of my actions were entirely my own." The egyptian frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Bakura thoughtfully bit his lip.

"Well... the fusion of the thief king Bakura's soul and the fragment of Zorc's made it rather difficult, for starters. Then of course there is the matter of the massacre of Kul'Elna and what followed to take into consideration..." Bakura paused for a moment, his eyes seeming to see something Marik couldn't, before finally frowning in dissmissal.

"Tch. Oh well. The important part is that they were unable to decide, hence they they sent me back in this body. Of course, not after undoing the fusion between the two souls..." Bakura scowled slightly.

"Though I'm still not quite sure which one of the two I am." Noticing how serious Marik's facial expression had become, he quickly put the smirk back in place.

"But to be quite honest with you, I don't really care," he confessed before jumping off the backrest of the couch.

"Sitting down like that is really unfomfortable," he muttered and stretched his legs a bit before heading back into the kitchen. Marik frowned.

"And exactly _where_ do you think you're going?" he asked grouchily. Bakura didn't even stop to look at him, but did actually give him an awnser;

"I'm fucking hungry, I'm gonna eat something."

Marik glared.

"Who said you could eat _my_ food?"

No awnser this time.

"In fact, who the hell said you're even _welcome_ in my _apartment_?"

Again, no awnser.

"Asshole, stop ignoring me!"

Still nothing.

"... Oh that's it, you're going out, right NOW!"

"Pssh. Make me!"

***

That night, no one in the entire apartment building slept as much of a wink due to the noises and curses emitting from the apartment of Marik Ishtar on floor three.

Unfortunatley, or fourtunatley depending on how you see it, the noises were disturbing to the degree that nobody even dared to call the police.

**And now for explaining the *'s lol.**

*** - This is friggin true. I was trying to find jap. street names to use but they DO NOT USE THEM T-T**

** - Most hardcore fans already know this one, but "ore-sama" is the way Yami no Bakura says "I" in the jap. anime and manga. It is a very boostful way of referring to oneself, "ore" for starters is a very "masculine" and proud way of saying "I" and then adding "-sama" to that... well you get the picture XD

***** - Another thing most people know, but I feel the need to point it out. Bakura always refers to Ryou as his "host", but the japanese word he uses litteraly translates into "landlord". This amuses me for sme reason so I felt like I had to put it in.**

ANYHOW I'll see you all next time!^^ 


	4. Poor Marik Needs Coffee and Cigarettes

**-Rises out of a coffin vampire-style- Bleh! I have come back from the dead to bring you a new chapter! I have not been given any feedback on this thing by anyone so this is a bit of a shot in the dark here  
Either way I AM SORRY for this huge delay it's just this is my freshman high school year so I was distracted by all the new thingies around when I started BUT I shall do my best to make it up to you!  
Happy belated Halloween and enjoy the new chapter.  
**

Marik knew damn well smoking was forbidden inside the apartment building he lived in when he took a puff in the stairwell the following morning. He just didn't _care_.  
Hell, it wasn't like his neighbours did either... And even if they did, they had _no fucking right_ to complain considering how often they'd kept him up all night with their goddamned rave parties or stolen his washing times, the bastards... Yes, the great Marik Ishtar had to do his laundry just like everybody else – real shocker, huh?

As mentioned before, Marik would usually only smoke when he was either feeling depressed or under a lot of stress - and possibly while intoxicated.

And at the moment, Marik was depressed, stressed as hell, and _wishing_ he was intoxicated.

A tired sigh escaped the former tomb keeper's lips where he stood leaning against the wall, inhaling one more breath of calming nicotine.

The white haired demon was still inside his apartment. Yup, he was in there all right; currently roasting foam bananas on Marik's toaster, apparently beginning to feel rather at home in the epyptian's apartment.

_It's officiall; the man's insane. Completely, incureably, and absolutely batshit insane..._

The tanned youth shook his head in disbelief, letting out a hollow, half-suffocated laugh, cigarette still between his teeth. Because really... what else _could_ he do but laugh? A psychopathic, sadistic _lunatic_ from his past he believed to have been _dead_ for_ years_ had just suddenly popped up out of frigging _nowhere_ and occupied his apartment (and toaster) and then refused to leave no matter _what_ he did, seriously, what the _fuck_ was he supposed to do in this kinda situation?

And yes, he'd _tried _to make the bastard leave. Bloody hell, of _course_ he had tried - with little to no success.

At first he'd tried using brute force, which unfortunately had only earned Marik a nice set of bruises and a good dose of humiliation since Bakura could take some serious pain without as much as _flinching_, while Marik, despite being the physically stronger of the two, couldn't withstand _nearly_ as much and therefor got his ass handed to him. And calling the cops was _completely_ out of the question since Bakura knew of Marik's criminal past as the former leader of the Ghouls, whom the authorities were _still_ looking for, despite the fact that it was common knowledge in the criminal underworld that the group had been disbanded almost three years ago.

And Marik was _quite_ certain Bakura wouldn't think twice about turning him in, should he feel the need to. It was pure _blackmail_ of the worst kind; Bakura had him wrapped around his stupid, pale finger, and was loving every minute of it, the twisted bastard...

Marik let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm fucked," he said out loud in a monotone voice, taking another puff. "I, Marik Ishtar, am royally fucked."

He'd smoked up almost the entire cigarette now, his third this morning. The tanned man cursed silently, seeing how short the cig had gotten during these past few minutes.

"Damn. And this is the last one I got on me..." he muttered irritably as he took what was left of the white-orange stick between his fingers and glared at it for a good few seconds before he tiredly pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation and threw the cigarette on the floor, stomping out the glow with his shoe.

"To hell with this, I need coffee."

And with this, the Egyptian went down the stairs and out on the streets of Domino to find a place where he might finally enjoy some goddamned caffeine, preferably as far away from a certain white haired kleptomaniac as possible.

Bakura watched him leave from the open kitchen window; open because the thief was planning on getting rid of the cabbage head in the back of Marik's fridge, because, well, cabbage is fucking disgusting - and this particular cabbage was no exception. In fact, Bakura could _swear_ that the vegetable had been giving him dirty looks all morning; making it not only revolting, but also _hostile_.

The only reason he hadn't thrown it out yet was because there hadn't been enough people walking by the window, since it was still early in the morning. And Bakura was not one to throw things away without actually _hitting_ someone in the process.

That was just a waste of first-class entertainment.

And so, while searching for a suitable victim though the open window and roasting the foam bananas he'd found in the kitchen cabinet on Marik's toaster, the former spirit had an excellent view of Marik's departing form moving further and further away from the building.

From _him._

Bakura frowned in dissatisfaction.

"How rude," he spoke out loud. "I go though all this trouble to visit him and he just _walks away?_ Really, I think the brat's gotten even _more_ impolite since last time we met..." the thief trailed off, a wicked smirk replacing his scowl.

"But it's fine. He _is_ just a brat afterall, I guess I can't be too hard on him..." Bakura chuckled darkly.

"Though I really think he went a bit _too_ far this time. As punishment, I believe I shall have to do his lungs the great favor of throwing away all of his cigarettes. His precious organs will praise me for years to come," he decided with a snicker.

"And last time _I_ checked, he kept them in the bedroom closet."

Knowng where your victim keeps his beloved nicotine truly is one of the great advantages of being a stalker.

With his trademark smirk twisting his would-be angelic features, the thief headed off to the egyptian's bedchamber, swiftly opened the closet-door and snatched all of Marik's cigarettes from their place on the top-shelf. Bakura weighed the three packages he found in his hands with a thoughtful look on his face.

_Would be kind of a waste to just throw them away like that...  
_  
Finally, he shrugged and decided he'd hide them for now, and then maybe burn them up or something later.

Right now, he was a bit too tired to come up with something creative. The thief hadn't slept at all the previous night thanks to Marik's attempts at removing him from his resident, (as if Blondie would even be able to make Bakura move a fucking _inch_) an escapade which frankly had been, while terribly entertaining, rather exhausting.

Though Marik was probably even more worn-out than he was. It really was absolutely _precious_, how he'd fought him so hard. Simply adorable. Bakura would cherrish the memory of the frustrated look on the egyptian's face forever.  
However, now he was tired, and wished for nothing else but a nice nap.

And Marik's bed was simply _perfect_ for said nap.

Deciding he would take care of Marik's death-sticks after his quick rest, Bakura put the three packages back on their place on the closet-shelf before pouncing on the egyptian's unmade bed, not even bothering to remove his shirt nor using the bed's lilac cover, and buried his face into the dark mauve pillow, tiredly draping his pale arm around it.

_Marik really likes purple, huh?  
_  
With a tired smile playing on his lips, the thief slowly shut his heavy eyelids and nuzzled further into the lilac pillow.

The smile turned into a full-fledged grin when he caught the faint scent of...

_Oh gods, you're _kidding_ me, fucking _lemon*?_ Seriously?_

Snickering softly, Bakura's last thoughts before falling into unconsciousness were:

_Nice choice of shampoo fragrance, Marik. Fits you to a T._

A few blocks away, on a white painted bench in Domino Park, Marik Ishtar sneezed loudly.

After spending a whole night in the company of the infamous(ly irking and obnoxious) thief king Bakura, Marik was in a rather asocial mood.

And since he hadn't felt particiularly hungry either this morning, the Egyptian had simply ordered a large cup of black take-away coffee at the first café he'd spotted, then walked straight to the empty park and seattled down on the nearest bench; enjoying his coffee in silence.

Above him up in the tree's thick, green foliage the birds were chirping their usual morning melodies, like always on an early summer morning in Domino City.

Marik sighed. The calm environment soothed his last few worn-out nerves after his several hour long spat with Bakura last night and helped him clear his head slightly, but did by no means make him forget the little 'problem' still left in his apartment.

_What if I simply _killed_ him then? Is it really murder if the person in question _used _to be dead?  
_  
Marik shook his head violently. No, no, no, he _hated_ Bakura but surely not enough to actually _kill_ him, right?

... Right?

The Egyptian started chewing on his bottom lip; a sense of dread slowly filling him to the brim – coiling its way though his intestines and stomach like a giant, slippery _worm_.

"I... am no killer..." he could hear himself croak out hoarsely. A lie, of course, he _was_ a killer. He had murdered his own father in cold blood – no, on second thought scratch that, it isn't cold blood when you're totally cracking up while doing it, right? - he had killed lord knows _how_ many of his ghouls, indirectly mostly yes, but still, and finally there were (obviously) the _victims_ of his ghouls; the many duelists he'd robbed and stolen from, the people who simply knew too much and finally... the ones that just got caught in the crossfire.

Marik's hands were completely and utterly _soaked_ in the blood of both sinners and saints.

However, it was _dried_ blood. After Battle City, he no longer felt the need to hurt others; was no longer given the satisfaction it once brought him to toy with human life.

He no longer felt the need to play God.

And yet he'd most definitely give an arm to see that fucking Bakura six feet underground. Yet, he couldn't stand him.

And the funny thing was, it wasn't even about loathing _Bakura._ Not his smirk, his laugh, his over-confidence nor cruel ways nor sadistic quirks, no, the thief _himself_ was not the issue here.

The issue was _Marik_. The issue was that Bakura was a thing of his past - a reminder of the person Marik despised the most: The Marik that he used to be. A selfish, foolish brat who didn't know his damned place.

Sighing deeply, the Egyptian threw his head back and closed his eyes. A few sunrays were seeping though the greenery, lovingly caressing the Egyptian's bronze face. _  
_  
Marik took another sip of his coffee; the last few drops the tanned man noticed to his great vexation. Muttering something about coffee cups being way too small in Japan, Marik felt something vibrate in his left pocket, followed by a familiar ringtone. The Egyptian sighed heavily.

_This phone sure knows when the hell to ring, doesn't it...?  
_  
Quickly checking the caller ID saying "Rishid", Marik's dark mood brightened slightly before picking up.

"Mornin', Rishid. Care to tell me why you're calling me at this hour?" He could hear his brother in law fumble nervously with the phone for a bit on the other line; clearly stressed or worried – most likely a combination of the two.

"Marik! What a relief, I thought something might've happened to you; I was so worried!" Marik smiled faintly. Good ole' Rishid.

"What on earth gave you that idea?" the tanned youngster asked amusedly, leaning back on the white park bench.

"Um, well, I tried calling your apartment just now, but it didn't connect so I just assumed..." Rishid trailed off, most likely biting his lip in uneasiness if Marik knew him at least half as well as he thought he did.

Sighing at Rishid's over-protective ways, the Egyptian calmly explained to his brother that he was perfectly safe and sound and that he accidentally broke his phone the previous night, and therefor had been unable to recieve his calls.

Well, it _was_ true, in a sense; he _was_ perfectly safe and sound, save from a few bruises, and the phone _had _"accidentally" been broken the previous night; when he had attempted to hit Bakura in the head with it.

His DVD remote had shared its fate.

_May they both rest in peace.  
_  
This bit of information seemed to calm the other down enough to start asking worried questions of the more ordinary kind, such as, "Are you getting enough sleep?", "Did you make it home safely after the party?", "Are you eating properly?" and so on until Marik finally snapped at his former right hand saying he was _more_ than capable of taking care of himself; he was going to be nineteen this winter! Dear gods of old!

_Then again_, Marik thought bitterly, _Maybe he's right to be worrying about me... considering that there's a mentally unstable man in my apartment as we speak...  
_  
A tiny, irritating voice in his head that sounded _far_ too much like said unstable man to Marik's liking rolled its eyes at him and sassily told him that _he_ didn't exactly have the right to call _anyone_ "unstable", making the Egyptian groan in absolute misery.

Great, now that fucker was in his _head_, too!

"Marik? Something the matter?"

Sighing, Marik replied; "No, I'm fine Rishid, I've told you like ten times already. So how are _you two _doing then; you haven't said a _word_ about that, Rishid...!" He really _did_ try to keep the venomous tone out of his voice, but didn't quite succeed in his task. Rishid undoubtedly noticed, but chose to ignored it.

"Erm, well... We're having a wonderful time, Ishizu and I, but we do miss you terribly," Rishid spoke gently, his voice filled with all the sincerity in the world, and Marik smiled. Smiled simply because he was loved. Most people probably wouldn't find anything particularly remarkable about your siblings feeling affectionate towards you; but to Marik it was such an amazing thing – such a _privilege_ to be loved.

Too many in this world take love for granted.

"I miss you too, both of you," he awnsered softly. "But I'm fine, honestly. No need to worry; I'll take care of myself so you two just have fun. You did _not_ travel all the way to Europe to worry about me, right? And this call must be costing you a fortune as it is..."

"Well it's not like we can't afford it, now is it?" Rishid chuckled on the other line. "That was a _very_ generous wedding gift you gave us, Marik... Are you absolutely certain you have enough to pay for it?"

Marik sighed dramatically.

"Yeeees I'm sure: Just like the last fifteen times you asked, Rishid." Their honeymoon in Europe had _been_ his wedding gift to the two of them. Originally, Ishizu and Rishid had actually planned to have it in Japan since it would be both cheaper and easier, plus if something were to happen to Marik, they would be able to quickly get back home.

But Marik, being the good (and ridiculously stubborn) baby brother he was, simply wouldn't have it. He wanted the newlyweds to finally have time to focus on _each other_ for once instead of worrying about _him_. At _least_ on their bloody honeymoon for crying out loud!

For the love of crap, these people had practically _raised_ him and he'd spat them in the face as thanks. And yet, they had both merely turned a blind eye on it and forgiven him without a second thought. He owed them so much at this point he'd never be able to fully pay back the debt. But at least he could _try_. At least he could spoil them a _little_.

After all, they definitely deserved it.

Besides; money wasn't even an issue here. Marik wasn't stupid; he knew money made the world go 'round, and he had known it three years ago as well. Whilst his intentions at the time were indeed to become an honest citizen, the ghoul's fundings... oh, it had just been _too_ tempting! Marik wasn't a bloody role model dammit, he was and would always be a thief at heart! With that kind of money he would be able to support himself though his entire life, and there'd still be plenty left over!

He had, however, ended up splitting up the lesser fortune in two, taking one half for himself and donating the rest to various charity organizations; His conscience just wouldn't shut up about him living off "dirty money".

Though to be quite fair, he wasn't really planning on doing so either. He'd much rather get a good education and a good job that he enjoyed doing and live off _that_. The money from his old days of crime and murder in the bank were more of a _security_ than something he actually planned to use. His (hopefully) future children children would most likely come to inherit the majority of it.

Good, at least some joy would come from his criminal record.

Well that is, if he could find a suitable wife. Marik pouted, feeling the usual sting of jealousy that hit him whenever he'd think about women or relationships in general. It was stupid and incredibly girly of him; but he truely did long for love.

Then again, most people do that, don't they?

Still, that wasn't going to keep him from complaining about it, that's for certain!

"Money I have far too _much_ of, in my opinion," Marik continued, "What I'm having trouble with is this stupid craving I have for romantic affection," the egyptian muttered sullenly, causing Rishid to chuckled a bit.

"Don't worry Marik, I'm sure you'll find that special someone soon enough." Marik raised an eyebrow at his brother in law's reply.

"Is there any spesific _reason_ you said "someone" and not "girl"?" the Egyptian asked suspiciously.

"Well I'm... I mean please don't get me wrong here Marik, I'm not implying anything with it, I'm just saying that anything's possible."

Marik was incredibly close to hissing into the phone that he for Ra's sake wasn't a fucking _faggot_, so why the heck did everybody automatically assume he was, but suddenly remembered that Yugi wasn't gay either. And yet, he'd still fallen for Atem, and the boy didn't seem interested in any other guys...

_Maybe I shouldn't exclude the possiblility after all...?_ the former tomb-keeper pondered.

"I suppose you make a valid point, brother..."

As the words slowly slid out of his mouth, he couldn't keep himself from asking: Would I be able to date any of the men I _know,_ then?

He decided to tackle this issue by making a mental list in his head.

Yugi? Oh nononono, that was just plain _wrong_, it was like imagining him and _Rishid_ –

_Oh sweet Gods NO, the mental image, I can't get it out of my fucking head makeitstopmakeitstop!  
_  
Shaking his head violently, he decided that Yugi was completely out of the question.

Honda? Pfft. No way. Jonou? Nah, too... _blond_, and probably straight too. Kaiba? He almost laughed out loud at that one. No way, absolutely no way, not _that_ damned asexual stick in the mud!

... Ryuuji?

...

Fuck yes. But then again, Otogi-kun could probably turn even the straightest of men into flaming homosexuals with a sway of his hips; so that one didn't really count.

_Kinda like David Bowie**_, Marik concluded.

Then of course, there was Ryou.

And _this_ one definitely counted.

Speaking purely hypothetically now, if Marik _had_ actually been gay, he most definitely would've asked the boy out in a heartbeat. Ryou was pretty much all you could ever want in a... well, boyfriend; He was kind, gentle, intelligent, witty and full of surprises (not to mention he wasn't exactly that bad to look at either). All in all, it seemed quite possible...

Well... it did until Ryou's appearace made his slightly more unpleasant if not flat out _sociopathic_ alter-ego cross the egyptian's mind due to their striking simularity, causing him to shiver – and_definetly not in a good way._

The very _thought_ of him and Bakura as... _lovers_... was almost as disturbing as the idea of him and Rishid having – okay_ no_, just _no, _he had to stop his own thoughts right then right there because he never ever _ever_ wanted to think of such things ever again, seriously.

Though much like his previous thought, this one was also extremely difficult to let go of. His brain seemed rather hellbent on sexually and morally torturing him today, he observed bitterly.

But the worst part of it was most definitely that he had subconsciously just admitted that Bakura was good-looking by deeming Ryou as such since the two were close to identical in appearance.

_So...  
_  
You know that little voice in you head that tells you when to stop?

_Which one of the two is the hottest then?  
_  
... Marik's was either asleep or taking a vacation.

And to make maters worse, he _did not_ like the answer to that question. Not. One. _Bit.  
_  
"MARIK!"

Rishid's worried voice immediately snapped him out of his trance-like pre-tantrum.

"Oh, sorry I got caught up in thoughts-"

"Don't _do_ that, I thought something might've happened to you!"

"Yes, but you _always_ think that, Rishid," Marik replied patiently. He could hear his brother in law sigh on the other line.

"I know, I suppose I worry a bit too much about you..."

"Oh, you _think_?"

"But really Marik, are you sure you're alright? No problems at all?"

Oh, he had problems alright. In the form of a sadistic, and apparently _good-looking _according to _himself_, sociopathic kleptomaniac...!

But he wasn't going to tell Rishid that. He couldn't! He couldn't bother Rishid and Ishizu with _his_ problems, especially not on their bloody _honeymoon_, dammit!

Even if it _killed him_, he refused to ruin this for them. Ever. He wasn't going to tell them at all.

Even if the meant he had to... get along with Bakura.

Ra, death actually sounded _tempting_ now... But he couldn't risk their happiness over this; not to mention their _lives_! Bakura was fucking insane – there's no telling what he's capable of!

... No one would know. He would make sure of it. That was the only solution he could find.

He knew what he had to do.

"... Everything's perfect. You and sis stop worrying bout me and take care of yourselves, and this call is getting way too expensive, Rishid," Marik smiled gently.

_I'll manage. I'll get through this on my own. So please just be happy and have a good time together. That's all I ask of you.  
_  
"Alright. You take care of yourself too, Marik."

The younger egyptian chuckled softly. He'd _try_.

"Of course. Oh, and do tell my sister I said hi. Bye, Rishid."

"I'll do that. Be seeing you, Marik."

They hung up simultaniously. Marik tiredly shoved the phone back into his pocket and sighed.

He knew what he had to do. He just didn't want to do it.

He was going to have to put up with Bakura.

*** For those of you who didn't get that... Google is your friend^^ And for you who did; Oh YES, I went there D**

**** Otogi Ryuuji is the David Bowie of YGO! SPREAD THE WORD!**

**So yeah, Marik's finally come to terms with the fact that the plot is going to move on here XD**

**Marik: I hate you so much. **

**But I love youuu!^^ Yeah, there wasn't a lot of Bakura in this chapter, which sucks cuz he's INCREDIBLY fun to write, but he'll be right back next time.**

**...**

**Bakura reads lemon. THERE, I SAID IT! Mwouahahaha! See y'all next time!**


End file.
